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Walter Huston, Maria Ouspenskaya and Harlan Briggs all recreated their roles from the Broadway version of the play which co-starred Fay Bainter as Fran. Huston had also appeared in the role in Los Angeles shortly before the start of the film's production. According to a HR news item, the Los Angeles production co-starred Huston's wife, Nan Sunderland . In an Apr 27 HR news item, it was noted that actress Freida Inescourt was testing "for the role of Nan Sunderland ." It is possible that Sunderland had earlier been considered for the role of Fran in the film as well. Another HR news item noted that extensive backgrounds were being shot in New York in early May 1936 by a crew "headed by Frank Cabett." Cabett's exact position has not been determined. Richard Day won an Academy Award for Best Art direction. In addition, the picture, Sidney Howard, Oscar Lagerstrom, Huston, and Ouspenskaya were nominated for Academy Awards in their respective categories. Huston also earned a Best Actor citation from the New York Film Critics. The film was in the NYT 's Ten Best list and was one of the top twenty box office films of the year. Several reviews commented on the fact that the picture was filmed concurrent to Mary Astor's divorce and child custody hearing during which the contents of her diary created national headlines. On reviewer even referred to her as "Mary (Dear Diary) Astor." Reviews also pointed out the fact that Huston's career had finally recuperated after his previous American film, RKO's Keep 'Em Rolling (1934, see below) ...
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Walter Huston, Maria Ouspenskaya and Harlan Briggs all recreated their roles from the Broadway version of the play which co-starred Fay Bainter as Fran. Huston had also appeared in the role in Los Angeles shortly before the start of the film's production. According to a HR news item, the Los Angeles production co-starred Huston's wife, Nan Sunderland . In an Apr 27 HR news item, it was noted that actress Freida Inescourt was testing "for the role of Nan Sunderland ." It is possible that Sunderland had earlier been considered for the role of Fran in the film as well. Another HR news item noted that extensive backgrounds were being shot in New York in early May 1936 by a crew "headed by Frank Cabett." Cabett's exact position has not been determined. Richard Day won an Academy Award for Best Art direction. In addition, the picture, Sidney Howard, Oscar Lagerstrom, Huston, and Ouspenskaya were nominated for Academy Awards in their respective categories. Huston also earned a Best Actor citation from the New York Film Critics. The film was in the NYT 's Ten Best list and was one of the top twenty box office films of the year. Several reviews commented on the fact that the picture was filmed concurrent to Mary Astor's divorce and child custody hearing during which the contents of her diary created national headlines. On reviewer even referred to her as "Mary (Dear Diary) Astor." Reviews also pointed out the fact that Huston's career had finally recuperated after his previous American film, RKO's Keep 'Em Rolling (1934, see below) which was a critical and box office failure. An HR news item noted that Samuel Goldwyn had brought Broadway actor Charles Halton out from New York for a role in this film. Dodsworth was apparently his first film. Modern sources list the following additional cast members: Fred Malatesta ( Ship's waiter ), and Dale Van Sickel and Joan Barclay ( Guests in ship's salon ). Huston recreated his role on a Lux Radio Theatre broadcast on 4 Oct 1937, and Fay Bainter and Edward Arnold appeared in the roles of Fran and Sam Dodsworth on a Chase and Sanborn Hour radio production on 31 Jul 1938. The Sinclair Lewis novel also provided the basis for a British television drama in 1950, starring Chatterton and Walter Abel. Although Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson were announced as the stars of another proposed version in 1977 and Gregory Peck was to star and produce a television version in 1982, neither were made.
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Sam Dodsworth faces the sale of his successful motor company with both sadness and anticipation. After years of hard work, he and Fran, his social climbing wife, are taking a long European trip. Fran considers herself too young and vibrant to stay in a small town like Zenith with ordinary friends like Matey and Cubby Pearson, while the down-to-earth Sam enjoys the simple life. Leaving their married daughter Emily, they sail for Europe on a luxury liner where Fran has a mild flirtation with Capt. Locket. Sam thinks that she is just getting something out of her system and isn't worried, although he dislikes the continental friends whom Fran acquires. When she begins an affair with Arnold Iselin, he leaves for home, hoping that she will soon come to her senses. Her affair with Iselin falls through and she decides to go back to Sam, but only if he will let her stay in Europe. They become estranged, especially after the birth of Emily's baby heighten's Fran's fear of getting old and she begins another affair in Vienna with impoverished young nobleman Kurt von Obersdorf. She sends Sam away to obtain a divorce and he travels alone through Europe. In Naples he runs into Edith Cortwright, a kind, attractive divorcee whom he had met on the voyage to Europe. Edith asks Sam to lunch at her villa and when she realizes how unhappy he is, she invites him to stay. Meanwhile, Kurt's mother refuses to give her permission for his marriage to Fran, an older woman. Crushed, Fran sends for Sam just after he has asked Edith to marry him. ...
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Sam Dodsworth faces the sale of his successful motor company with both sadness and anticipation. After years of hard work, he and Fran, his social climbing wife, are taking a long European trip. Fran considers herself too young and vibrant to stay in a small town like Zenith with ordinary friends like Matey and Cubby Pearson, while the down-to-earth Sam enjoys the simple life. Leaving their married daughter Emily, they sail for Europe on a luxury liner where Fran has a mild flirtation with Capt. Locket. Sam thinks that she is just getting something out of her system and isn't worried, although he dislikes the continental friends whom Fran acquires. When she begins an affair with Arnold Iselin, he leaves for home, hoping that she will soon come to her senses. Her affair with Iselin falls through and she decides to go back to Sam, but only if he will let her stay in Europe. They become estranged, especially after the birth of Emily's baby heighten's Fran's fear of getting old and she begins another affair in Vienna with impoverished young nobleman Kurt von Obersdorf. She sends Sam away to obtain a divorce and he travels alone through Europe. In Naples he runs into Edith Cortwright, a kind, attractive divorcee whom he had met on the voyage to Europe. Edith asks Sam to lunch at her villa and when she realizes how unhappy he is, she invites him to stay. Meanwhile, Kurt's mother refuses to give her permission for his marriage to Fran, an older woman. Crushed, Fran sends for Sam just after he has asked Edith to marry him. He dutifully returns to Fran, but just as they are about to sail for America, her catty remarks about their friend Matty makes him realize that he no longer loves her. He leaves her screaming after him and goes happily to join Edith at her villa.
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Seventy-year-old newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane dies in his palatial Florida home, Xanadu, after uttering the single word “Rosebud.” While watching a newsreel summarizing the years during which Kane ... >>

The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the
AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.